Panel fastening clip



NOV- 13, 1962 M. KEssLER 3,063,524

PANEL FASTENING CLIP /W/L ro/v K555i. En

ATTORNEY Nov. 13, 1962 M. KEssLER 3,063,524

PANEL FASTENING CLIP Filed Aug. l0, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 2 H66 ,6' Ff@ 7 1N VENTOR M/l. ro/v K553i. ER

ATTORNEY States Unite This invention relates to a resilient clip for removably fastening a panel, such as a window, or screen panel, into a frame, such as a door frame, and has for its primary object the provision of such a clip which is easy to install and remove and which is inexpensive in construction and materials and highly effective in operation.

It is common practice to provide storm or outer doors with a window panel which can be removed at the end of the cold season and replaced by a screen for use during the warm season. As employed with the standard aluminum door frame, the window or screen panels are retained in place in the frame by the use of small metal clips which are fastened to the aluminum frame by means of screws. When interchanging the panels, it is therefore necessary to loosen or remove these screws, and remove the metal clips, or else rotate them through 90 to permit removal of one panel and substitution of the other, after which the process must be repeated in reverse. While this is a simple operation, it is usually performed by a housewife who is not familiar with the use of tools, and often has diiculty in locating even such a tool as a screw driver.

It is an object of the invention to substitute for the above-described screw-type clip, a simple clip, preferably made of inexpensive plastic material such as nylon, which can be quickly installed and removed without the use of tools.

A further object is to provide such a clip which is neat and attrractive in appearance, durable in construction, and effective in operation.

A further object is to provide a spring clip which can be used with a variety of different-sized door or panel thicknesses.

The specific nature of the invention, as well as other objects and advantages thereof, will clearly appear from a description of a preferred embodiment as shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. l is a side elevation of a storm door embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2 2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 2, but showing the clip only partly inserted;

FIG. 4 is a view partly in section of the clip taken on line 4 4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a modified form of the spring clip;

FIG. 6 is a sectional View showing another modication of the spring clip;

FIG. 7 is a transverse sectional view of a clip having two barbs for adaptability to various sizes of screens and frames;

FIG. 8 is a top View of a further modification;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of another modified forin of the invention;

FIG. l0 is a similar view of a further modification;

FIG. ll is a bottom view of the clip shown in FIG. 10; and

FIG. l2 is a sectional view of an additional modification.

FIG. l shows a typical storm door 2 having the usual hinges 3, 3 and provided with the usual rabbeted aperture for reception of a window panel 4, which may be removed after the cold weather and replaced with a screen of similar dimension. The window or screen is held in place by a number of clips 6, the construction of which is better Shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4.

A common type of door in wide use is made of extruded aluminum in the form of a hollow channel member as shown, for example, in FIG. 2, and the Window or screen opening is provided with a rabbeted edge portion as shown at 7 for receiving and seating the panel 8, which is used as a window panel, although it will be understood that a screen panel of similar dimensions is alternatively provided. The glass panel 8 is provided with a metal bead or edging 9' for greater strength and rigidity.

The clip 6- consists of what may be termed a central body portion from which diverge two arms 11 and 12, at least one of which is sufficiently resilient to be capable of flexing from the normal undistorted position shown in FIG. 3 so as to exert pressure for retaining the panel in place, as will be described below.

FIG. 3 shows the clip in the iirst stage of insertion. A hole 13 has been previously provided in the door frame at a suitable distance from the edge 14 of the rabbeted portion of the door. These apertures (one for each clip) may be preformed in the door during construction thereof, or can be readily drilled, for example, with a quarterinch drill in any door which has not been provided with such apertures. P-rotruding from the main body portion 6 of the clip is a barbed leg 16 having a point 17 and a barb 1S suitably dimensioned to easily pass through the aperture 13. With the clip in the position shown in FIG. 3, in which the ends of arms 11 and 12 rest respectively against the panel and against the door, if some pressure is exerted on the clip in the direction indicated by the arrow A, the clip will readily be forced into locking position as shown in FIG. 2, in which resilient distortion of the arms of the clip tends to firmly hold the panel in place. A preferred material for the clip is nylon, from which material it can readily be fabricated by conventional molding processes, and which is a very strong and rugged material, yet possessed of suflicient flexibility for the purpose. The clip can readily be made sufiiciently rigid so that considerable force is required to install it, and the resulting friction is adequate to keep the clip in position under the stresses of normal use, including vigorous slamming of the door. For the sake of appearance, it is desirable that the clips be installed horizontally as shown in FIG. l, and therefore, to minimize the tendency to rotate appreciably away from the horizontal position, the dimensions are so designed that the arm 11 just barely clears the corner of the rabbeted portion of the door at 14 when installed, thus tending to prevent angular rotation of the clip with respect to the hole 13.

When the hole 13 is formed, as is usually the case, by drilling or cutting, this operation tends to leave a small internal burr or Wire edge 19. This improves the operation of the clip, since the sharp edge 19 firmly engages the underside of barb 1S, and prevents it from escaping through the hole. In order to remove the clip, it is only necessary to press it down with the thumb in the direction shown by the arrow B, 'which causes the barb to be disengaged from the rim 19 of the aperture and to move back into a position of alignment with the aperture, whereby upon release of the thumb pressure, the entire clip is readily removed from the door.

While the clip described above can be readily fabricated by molding, itis also possible to inexpensively fabricate the clip by continuous extrusion through a die shaped to conform to the cross section of the clip as shown in FIG. 3. The continuous extruded strip can then be readily cut transversely to form a series of clips. However, these clips will not have narrow barbed legs as shown in FIG. 4, but the barbed leg will extend across the full width of the clip. To obviate the expense of can be .used without such cutting, by providing, instead of a circular hole 13, an elongated slot 13 as shown in FIG. 5, into which clip 6 can be inserted in the same manner as previously described. This construction has the further advantage that it minimizes the tendency to rotate, and insures that the clip will be substantially horizontalwhen installed. Where the apertures in the door frame are pre-'fabricated during construction, it adds very little to the expense to make the aperture as shown at 13', instead of a circular aperture. However, for installation on non-apertured doors, it is easier to use a standard round drill, in which case a clip of the form shown in FIG. 4 is preferable.

FIG. 6 shows a modied form of clip cross-sectional contour in which the arm 11' is given a re-entrant curvature to form a tip as shown at 21. In this case, the barb 18 faces toward the end 21, and is retained by the end 21 against the possibility of unintentionally slipping out of its aperture. However, by thumb pressure on the end of the clip as indicated by the arrow B, the cip is readily removed, While it is reinserted by pressure in the direction shown by the arrow A. 'I'he construction of FIG. 6 also has the further advantage that it is self-aligning horizontally. In FIG. 6 the door 2 is shown with the screen 4 installed instead of the glass 4 as shown in FIG. l.

FIG. 7 illustrates another modication in which the barbed leg 16 is provided with two barbs instead of one, in order to accommodate different thicknesses of doors and panels. It will be readily apparent that a larger series of barbs can be installed, if necessary or desirable, in order to render the clip adaptable to a wide variety of different sized doors and panels.

FIG. 8 shows another modification in which two downwardly extending legs 16" are employed together with two holes, in order to prevent rotation of the clip, the construction being otherwise similar to that shown in FIGS. 2-4.

For use with heavier panels, and also where the door is likely to be slammed, or where pressure is likely to be exerted directly against the door, it is desirable to have the clip apply a maximum of force to the panel, yet it should not require too much pressure to engage the clip. The construction of FIG. 9 meets these requirements. In thise case, the panel-engaging arm 25 is made short and fairly rigid, while the frame-engaging arm 26 is made long and resilient. The two arms act, in etect, as a lever pivoted at the barb-engagement point 27, and it will be apparent that the force applied to panel 2S is multiplied in accordance with the ratio of the length of arm 26 to the length (from point 27 to point 29) of arm 25. However, in pressing the clip home (or in removing it), the main downward pressure needed (if applied to the center of the clip at point A' with one finger, while another linger presses in the direction B) will be much less than the holding force applied to the panel 28 once the clip is latched in place. Thus the clip can be easily inserted or removed, yet it will hold with great force.

It will be apparent that the clip of FIG. 9 may be pro` vided with more than one barb, as in FIG. 7, and that the short arm 25 may be shaped as` in FIG. 6, if desired.

FIG. l shows another form of the invention providing a positive latching action to retain the panel in place even in situations Where considerable force is likely to be applied to the panel. In this case, the frame-engaging arm 33 is constructed as before, but the panel-engaging arm 35 is curved as shown, and is provided with a pin 34 on the end thereof. (See FIG. 1l.) A hole 36 is made in the frame edge for reception of pin 34. The barb 32 and leg 31 are of the same construction as prevously shown. The dimensions are such that the panel 37 is firmly held, although a little play would do no harm. It is apparent that this construction will latch l the panel firmly in place and hold even against considerable force applied to the panel.

FIG. l2 shows a slightly different modication of the same principle, except that in this case, instead of a hole 34, a ledge 42 is provided in the frame, which engages the nose 43 of the clip. In all cases, where the hole is not drilled but is punched, it is readily possible to design the punch to form a sharp lip 44 which engages the barb 46 to hold the clip securely in place. This is, of course, applicable to all forms of the invention.

It will be apparent that the embodiments shown are only exemplary and that various modiiications can be made in construction and arrangement within the scope of my invention as delined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a frame defining a panel aperture into which a panel can be inserted from one side only; a panel seated in said aperture; and removable plastic clip means for retaining said panel in said apertures; said frame having a number of small perforations near the edge of the panel aperture with a burr at the bottom of said perforations, each said clip means having two arms and a frame-engaging leg having hook means thereon, said leg passing through one of said perforations with the hook means in hooking engagement with the remote surface of the perforated portion of the vframe and with the burr around said perforations and the arms respectively in resilient pressing engagement with the frame and with the panel to retain said panel in the frame aperture, said aperture being sutiiciently large to freely receive said hook means, said hook means being biased only perpendicularly to said remote surface with which it is engaged, by said arms, whereby the clip is releasable by pressure on said arms.

2. In combination, a hollow metal frame defining a panel aperture and having a rabbeted seat to receive a panel from one side, a panel member seated in said aperture against said seat, and removable lresilient plastic clip means for retaining said panel in said aperture, said clip means comprising a resilient arcuate spring strip, a barb member extending away from the concave side of the arcuate strip intermediate the ends of said arcuate strip to detine two arms of said strip extending in generally opposite directions, said frame having a small clip-receiving aperture near the frame edge which defines the panel-receiving aperture, extending from an exterior and having a burred edge on its remote side face of the frame to the hollow interior, said barb member extending through said aperture in barbed engagement with the burred edge on the interior side of said hollow frame, one arm of said strip being in engagement with said exterior face of the frame and the other arm of said strip being in engagement with said panel member and resiliently biased to ward said panel member to retain same in said aperture against said seat.

3. In combination, a hollow metal frame dening a panel aperture having a rabbeted seat into which a panel can be inserted from the front only, a panel member seated in said aperture against said seat and recessed with respect to the front face of said frame, and removable clip means for retaining said panel in said aperture, said clip means comprising a plastic resilient arcuate spring strip, a leg member having a barb thereon extending away from the concave side of said arcuate portion intermediate its ends to define two arms extending in generally opposite directions, said frame having a small leg-receiving aperture on its front face, the metal edges of said aperture being burred on the interior side, said leg member extending through said aperture with the barb portion engaged with the interior side of the hollow frame and with the burr around the aperture, one arm of said strip being in engagement with said front face of the frame, the other arm extending out over the panel area below the plane of said front face into engagement with said 5 6 panel member, whereby rotation of said clip means is of said arm extending into a perforation of said perfoprevented by the edge of said frame. rated portion.

4. The invention according to claim 3, said other arm having a re-entrant curvature with the end of said arm References Cited 111th@ file 0f hls Patent pointing back toward the frame, and in engagement with 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS a portion thereof to thereby retain said panel in said seat. 

